Initial Exploration of Event Data Recorder Development on Intercity Rail Coach

Event data recorders (EDR) are crucial for capturing and monitoring various train signals to ensure that the trains in service are in good and stable condition. The information gathered is utilized to investigate incidents, analyze trains’ operations, and produce predictions on railway equipment lifespan. A type of intercity rail coach uses TELOC 1520 onboard for train signal data collection. Unfortunately, the cost of maintenance of this EDR is excessive, which significantly impacts the railway’s operator expenses. A significant cost and time are required to fix the EDRs when they fail to work as they should. This will cause the trains to be out of commission, as many of the EDR are reaching their end of life. The main goal of this work is to initiate an upgraded proof-of-concept (POC) EDR replicating the current system for selected signals. From the 14 monitored signals, only temperature, humidity, vibration, and speed, are measured. Outputs produced by DHT11 (temperature and humidity sensor), MPU6050 (vibration sensor), and encoder sensor are sent to the Firebase Real-time Database and Firebase Firestore using NodeMCU ESP8266. The output data are saved in the Firebase Real-time Database while Firebase Firestore extracts these data with the help of the Flutter mobile application for data visualization in near real-time. Moving ahead, a low-cost, easy-to-be-maintained, and easy-to-monitor robust data acquisition system able to replace the existing EDRs shall be integrated with the intercity rail coaches. Without the upgrade and replacement of the EDRs, the intercity rail coaches will no longer be relevant.